Sox Missing Idiot…Soon to Give Tryouts to Writers
Boston Herald writer Karen Guregian thinks that the Sox problems would be resolved if they just had a big, heaping bowl of Kevin Millar to snack on.
There is no secret what Millar brings to the clubhouse. His wackiness and keep-it-loose-at-all-costs attitude gets a good amount of credit for the Red Sox coming back against the Yankees in 2004. I can’t speak to the truthiness of that…I wasn’t in the clubhouse, I am not a Major League baseball player, and I have a want to deal in the more tangible aspects of baseball. But right or wrong, Millar gets a bunch of credit for helping create that culture.
Often times though, I am annoyed by the spectre that follows him around. I always saw the idea of Millar being some sort of beneviolent svengali of clubhouses, bending the will of unlike teammates to work toward a common goal of winning baseball games and partyin’ on dude (!) as being more in the mind of the people around the team…with Millar himself being the chief snake oil salesman.
During his time here, the perception of Kevin Millar was that he was a happy clown. I mean, the Born in the USA lip synch from his younger days was worth it’s weight in laughter. But when you look deeper, so saw things like quotes from Terry Francona, saying that “One Millar is fine, but you couldn’t have a team of them”. You saw his skills diminishing, and then bitching about the possibility of him sitting more for other players (”El bencho”).
The worst thing about the Millar experience was that I never got the feeling he really knew his place in the cosmic order of the Red Sox. During 2005, he frequently talked up what he does for the ball club, mentioning his own intangibles, which is kind of like a college student reminding his parents about his 1280 SAT’s when his first report card has a 1.8 on it. He openly campaigned for his spot in the lineup, saying how it was good for the team to have him around. The question that should have been begged, but wasn’t was that if Millar was such a good teammate, why did he put himself before John Olerud, Roberto Petagine and Kevin Youkilis? If he was a positive influence on the clubhouse, if he didn’t keep his spot, why would he pout and poison any chemistry that he might otherwise positively effect?
The other prong in the fraud of Millar was his perceived influence on Manny Ramirez. When the end was neigh, Millar reminded people in a not-so-subtle way that he helped keep Manny in check. Without him…I mean, just imagine the distraction that Manny Ramirez would be! Of course, we don’t have to imagine. Despite being a hitter of prolific nature, Manny is good for one team-wide distraction a season. He was in 2003, and 2004. Also in 2005, and 2006. If Millar had that much of an effect on Manny, why was he such a distraction in the Millar era (03-05) and then again post-Millar? Where, exactly, was Kevin Millar’s influence on the will of Manny Ramirez?
The rest of the article talks about things like how there are no more Idiots, and how Millar thinks the 2004 crew should have been brought back for 2005 (even though the only significant changes to the roster were Cabrera and Pedro)…all the sorts of canned nonsense that people like Bill Simmons eats up. Millar himself will always be a polarizing figure in Red Sox history, at least until the memories of him doing Born in the USA wane. The ironic thing is that his actual contributions to the team (including drawing the walk that lead to the Steal) will probably always be underrated in the shadow of his own intangibled propaganda.
Bravo, Jeff.
It’s simply astounding that this type of thinking is still out there.
And Millar knows that he can profit from precisely this kind of nonsense. The more he goofs it up, the more the perception that he is adding intangible value is perpetuated. Nevermind his bat speed makes him look like he is swinging under water or that his waistline won’t stop expanding.
Levity, baby. Levity.
Right on… Seth Mnooking mentions what an obnoxious presence Millar could be in “Feeding the Monster,” so I don’t think it’s just you coming up with this stuff. I believe he talks about how Millar would throw a fit at Tito every time he was benched, especially for Eyechart and Petagine.
Millar got benched for John Olerud in ‘05, not Petagine. And the great comeback against the Yankees was 2004, not 2005…but I’m sure that was just a typo. :)
That article bugged me too. Millar’s act had grown rather thin by the time his tenure with the Sox ended, so even putting his diminished skills aside, I was glad to see him go. It felt like it was time to cut that cord and move on. I felt the same way about Damon. It’s all well and good for a player to get nostalgic about yesteryear and how the 2004 squad could’ve done it all over again, but the reality is much different. The 2005 club was, as you said, virtually the same, and it got swept out of the playoffs. It also had the look of a drastically overachieving ballclub and even before Theo-Gate that winter, it was clear to me that the Sox had to change direction.
I’ll never forget El Bencho’s walk in Game 4, and I’ll never forget that magical season. But the Sox have fully entered the post-Millar era and honestly, even with the third place finish last year, I think we’re doing just fine.
Like Kenny getting killed off in nearly every South Park episode, a season isn’t complete without a Manny moment. You know it will happen but not sure when. 04’s came early & ended with citizenship. He was brought back into the fold in 05, but when he quit in 06 he quit for good. Can’t wait to see what Manny has planned for 07. The anger that Herald article, nothing more than a feel- good fluff piece elicited must be from those chigger-like Yank fans getting under everyone’s skin for 6 months about 06’s 3rd place finish.
Isn’t anyone concerned that the Red Sox had loaded bases THREE TIMES & couldn’t do a damn thing with it?